“First books don’t usually take on the world at this level of seriousness and skill”

Jehanne Dubrow‘s first poetry collection, The Hardship Post, is being re-released by Sundress Publications.

From Stanley Plumly, author of Argument & Song: “There’s a tensile strength of line here—predominantly pentameter—
that underscores the ease of the poetic idiom: just as the heartfelt yet disciplined feeling—life of the content underwrites this collection’s larger themes of Judaism and its ancient traditions. The Hardship Post has a good deal on its mind as well as the load in its heart. Polish history and heritage may be one personal focus, but displacement and identity are the greater subjects. First books don’t usually take on the world at this level of seriousness and skill.”

The Hardship Post includes work previously published in NER. Dubrow’s poetry has appeared in NER 26.2 and 30.2.

“gritty, hard-hitting debut”

NER contributor Kerry James Evans has published his first book of poetry, Bangalore, with Copper Canyon Press. Appearing in Bangalore is “A Good Hunt,” originally published in NER 30.2.

From Publishers Weekly: “Evans’s gritty, hard-hitting debut combines war poems, elegies, and high Southern lyrics to create a new understanding of American identity.”

From Brian Spears of The Rumpus: “Evans spares nothing and no one in his poems, and yet he still finds a way to celebrate what deserves celebrating, and in the end, we’re left with hope.”

“tender observation[s] not of the clothing but of the wearer”

We are pleased to announce that NER author Matthew Thorburn‘s new book of poetry, Every Possible Blue, has been published by CW Books. Thorburn’s poem “Proof” appeared in NER 30.1.

From Publishers Weekly: “Saturated with color and light, Thorburn’s second collection celebrates New York with deft, vivacious strokes. Similar to the way a city is always rebuilt, or a painter reworks a canvas, Thorburn’s poems pay special attention to the clothing and adornments that change to fit life’s varied occasions. ‘Oh to be crisply cuffed, / something in fall flannel to flatter / this flaneur,’ he writes in ‘Men Swear.’ An airy poem describing a white blouse—’like a sail’ with ‘two buttons un / done / a peek of pale breast / bone’—becomes a tender observation not of the clothing but of the wearer. But ‘inky / silks, slinky satins’ don’t fool Thorburn. No matter what people wear, whether it is a second-hand tuxedo or a ‘mint green’ sari, he reminds himself, ‘you’re human, / you’re human.'”

Confluences

After collaborating on the autobiographies of some of the world’s most famous subjects, Peter Knobler turns towards home and writes about memory, music, and his mother. “When I was growing up we had spent many Sunday mornings in our Greenwich Village home listening to Mahalia Jackson, Harry Belafonte, the Weavers—records that now sat on her shelves like tablets.”